Sparkle and waltz and laugh
by Syblime
Summary: Branson and Sybil have opted for an elopement, but will they go through with it?


_This is nothing to do with series two; it's just something that randomly popped into my head. The Characters are from Downton Abbey and most of the speech is from Becoming Jane. I don't own either of them. Is this a crossover? I don't really know. I think it is set in 1915-open to interpretation._

'**That Glamorous love lasts where you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine.**' Carol Ann Duffy's 'Before you were mine'.

Branson leaned back against the hard seat and listened to the rhythmic sound that only trains produce. He was beginning to regret this. He knew it was absurd. He could never have dreamt they would get this far, not really. Everything was so wrong, he thought as he looked at the beautiful girl beside him, however right it felt. Sybil was the one with more to lose, yet she had been so keen to do this. He had always believed that they could have a future together. He could get another job. In his head it was all so perfect but the reality would be harsh. A job as comfortable and as well paid as the one he had was very unlikely. He would probably end up doing manual labour-for very little money. Not enough to support a family.

Family.

That was another problem. He didn't know how his family would react to him marrying the daughter of an English Earl. The things they were fighting against; British rule and aristocracy. Again, she had it worse than him. The pair of them would never be able to return to Downton. How would she cope? He knew her stubborn defiance. She would tell him that her life wasn't as easy as he might think and that she would be fine. Whatever the circumstances. But she would miss them all. Her sisters, her parents, even her Grandmother as well as her elaborate lifestyle, for he knew the horrors of what they might face in poverty. He stared uneasily out of the window, watching the world slip by. They had nearly reached the station where they were to change trains.

"Sybil" he gently shook her shoulder to wake her up. She blinked at him sleepily before smiling. "We're nearly there."

Tom had gone to check the times for the next train. Sybil stood with her small bag watching him. He had seemed a bit distant as he helped her down from the train. Perhaps he was tired, she reasoned with herself. She smiled as he walked back to her. They had a ten minute wait at least. Her stomach was doing somersaults, but her excitement was hard to contain. She was finally free to do what she wanted; she had the man she wanted. They sat down together on a bench, for the refreshment stand was closed. She looked around at the station. It was quite similar to the station at Ripon, not exactly pretty, but pleasant. She looked back.

"Tom? What is it?"

He'd been sitting forward with his head in his hands, trying to think of something to say to her.

"Sybil, I... I can't do this. I cannot live this lie." He couldn't read her expression. It was somewhere between confusion and heartbreak. "The life we would lead would be so... different, so difficult."

"Tom, we can earn money." She sounded reassuring.

"There will not be enough. And without your family you won't..." he hardly knew what he was saying, "you won't be happy."

"I will! I will be happy. I'll be with you."

"Yes, but if our love destroys your family it will destroy itself."

"No!" her cry sent shivers through him.

"Yes. In a long, slow degradation of guilt and regret and blame." He shook his head. "It won't work."

"Tom."

"No, Sybil. You know it can't work. Think of your lifestyle. You sparkle and waltz and laugh. If you were mine there would be none of that. We'd have to live in squalor, God knows where, away from both our families."

"Tom. I knew that when we agreed to this. We both said that there would be little value in life if we were not together. You can't back out now!" She was distraught. Tears were flowing down her cheeks. "I love you." Her words were barely a whisper.

"We need to find the platform. I need to take you home." There was no expression in his voice, none in his features. He knew this was for the best.

As the train to Yorkshire rolled into the station she turned to him.

"Tom. I would never give you up. I thought you knew that." She climbed aboard. They sat opposite each other, the deafening silence increasing the distance which had come between them. He soon fell asleep, exhausted by his emotions. She stared forlornly out of the carriage window.

Back at Downton, a few days later, Sybil was once again gazing out of the window, her breakfast cold in front of her. The possibilities of what might have been were swirling round in her head.

"Sybil." Mary was calling her. She drew back, out of her trance, to look at her sister. "Do you want to say goodbye to Branson? He's leaving for war today."


End file.
